It was at Conny’s Studio near Cologne that a number of landmark recordings were completed, notably KRAFTWERK’s ‘Autobahn’ and ULTRAVOX’s ‘Vienna’.
The studio was the operational centre of engineer and producer Konrad Plank whose innovative portfolio covered a wide spectrum of music. Using a customised mixing desk, Plank favoured a dynamic production ethos that went against the grain of the compressed rock recording of the times. An advocate in the possibilities of electronics, he said: “I like synthesizers when they sound like synthesizers and not like instruments. Using a drum machine for electronic music is okay, but not if you try to make it sound like a real drummer”.
Conny Plank’s work with pioneering German experimental acts such as KRAFTWERK, CLUSTER and NEU! had a strong influence on David Bowie and Brian Eno, and thus ultimately every act that emerged from Synth Britannia; John Foxx considers Plank to be the most important record producer since George Martin.
His influence was quite evident when ULTRAVOX worked with George Martin on the ‘Quartet’
Plank’s key to getting the best out of his work was to enjoy the company of the acts he worked with. This was a particularly important requisite when trapped inside a countryside complex away from the social distractions of a city.
When Plank was booked by Daniel Miller for a four day session to record DAF’s first full-length album ‘Die Kleinen Und Die Bösen’
However, legend has it that after being introduced to U2 by Brian Eno with the view to producing ‘The Joshua Tree’, Plank turned down the job declaring: “I cannot work with this singer!”
As well as studio work, Plank was also an active musician. It was while touring South America with CLUSTER’s Dieter Moebius that Plank fell ill; he sadly passed away in December 1987 at the age of 46. Conny Plank leaves an important musical legacy, so here is a look back at twenty of his works, with a restriction of one track per album project…
ASH RA TEMPEL Traummaschine (1971)
ASH RA TEMPEL were a highly important Kosmiche band; it was the platform from which future electronic exponents Manuel Göttsching and Klaus Schulze emerged; they later found acclaim with their respective progressive opuses ‘E2-E4’ and ‘Mirage’. Plank engineered their very different debut album, seeded from sessions of free-form improvising. With just one track per side, the building eerie atmospheres of ‘Traummaschine’ contrasted with the noisier rock of ‘Amboss’.
Available on the ASH RA TEMPEL album ‘Ash Ra Tempel’
KRAFTWERK Tanzmusik (1973)
Having engineered KRAFTWERK’s first two albums and the earlier ORGANISATION ‘Tone Float’ long player, Plank helped Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider’s shift towards synthesizers on their third long player. A Minimoog and an EMS AKS appeared, but a Farfisa electric piano and a preset rhythm unit were the dominant textures of ‘Tanzmusik’. Things were more structured and with the abstract use of vocals, ‘Ralf & Florian’ were heading closer to the sound that would change pop music.
Originally on the KRAFTWERK album ‘Ralf & Florian’ via Philips Records, currently unavailable
NEU! Für Immer (1973)
Plank acted as mediator between the NEU! nucleus of Michael Rother and Klaus Dinger who each had quite different personalities and aspirations. Over a classic Motorik beat, ‘Für Immer’ featured carefully layered mini-cacophonies of sound. Indeed, so much studio time was spent on the track, the duo ran out of budget. In a fit of madness or genius, Dinger came up with the idea to fill the second half of the album with speeded up and slowed down versions of their single ‘Super’!
Available on the NEU! album ‘Neu! 2’
KRAFTWERK Autobahn (1974)
Under Plank’s stewardship, ‘Autobahn’ was KRAFTWERK’s breakthrough release as their transition into electronic pop. Ralf Hütter’s octave shifting Minimoog formed the rhythm backbone alongside a futuristic electronic snap, while Florian Schneider’s ARP Odyssey took the melodic lead over a 22 minute car journey. But with Hütter and Schneider growing increasingly confident, the parent album was to be their last recording with Plank. The rest is history…
Available on the KRAFTWERK album ‘Autobahn’
HARMONIA Deluxe (1975)
Unable to recreate NEU! live as a duo, Rother headed to Forst to meet with Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius of CLUSTER to discuss the augmenting their sound. While their debut ‘Musik Von Harmonia’ was recorded as a trio, for the follow-up ‘Deluxe’, they added vocals, a drummer in Mani Neumeier of GURU GURU and Plank to assist with production. The wonderful synth work on the title track signalled a melodic sensibility that was equal to that of KRAFTWERK.
Available on the album ‘Deluxe’
CLUSTER Sowiesoso (1976)
Plank’s long association with Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius began in 1969 when he engineered their debut ‘Klopfzeichen’ as KLUSTER. Their fourth album ‘Sowiesoso’ was CLUSTER’s first fully realised exploration into ambient electronics. With gentle melodic phrasing and unimposing rhythmical patterns, the title track was a wonderfully hypnotic adventure that welcomed the listener into the soothing world of the long player’s remaining aural delights.
Available on the CLUSTER album ‘Sowiesoso’
http://www.bureau-b.com/cluster.php
LA DÜSSELDORF Time (1976)
The third NEU! album saw a frustrated Klaus Dinger looking to seek the limelight. He got what he wanted in LA DÜSSELDORF. With his brother Thomas and Hans Lampe as percussionists, he headed down a more aggressive direction on their debut self-titled LP produced by Plank. There was a lot of Düsseldorf as the frantic tracks ‘Düsseldorf ’and ‘La Düsseldorf’ proved, but ‘Time’ was the epic closer that built to a brooding climax.
Available LA DÜSSELDORF album ‘La Düsseldorf’
MICHAEL ROTHER Flammende Herzen (1977)
Rother’s first three solo albums ‘Flammende Herzen’, ‘Sterntaler’ and ‘Katzenmusik’ were produced by Plank and featured CAN’s Jaki Liebezeit on drums. “It would be unfair really to have a favourite album” said Rother when asked if he had a preference, “Of course, I try to highlight Conny Plank’s contribution, he was so valuable… we wouldn’t have been able to record NEU! or the second HARMONIA album or my solo albums without Conny, so he’s all over the place in my music… thank you Conny”.
Available on the MICHAEL ROTHER album ‘Flammende Herzen’
http://www.michaelrother.de/en/
BRIAN ENO By This River (1977)
Originating from his sessions with Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius in Forst for HARMONIA 76, Eno produced this beautiful piano and synth ballad at Conny’s Studio with Plank at the engineering controls for inclusion on his fourth pop solo album ‘Before & After Science’. The warmth extracted from the Yamaha CS80 used was one of the key stand-out elements of ‘By This River’, which was later covered by Martin Gore for his ‘Counterfeit 2’
Available on the BRIAN ENO album ‘Before & After Science’
ENO MOEBIUS ROEDELIUS Broken Head (1978)
With the success of their earlier ‘Eno & Cluster’ ambient opus, the artful threesome gathered together again, but added voices and more experimentation for its follow-up ‘After The Heat’. With Plank again behind the desk, the textures on the unorthodox ‘Broken Head’ recalled some of Eno’s work with Bowie on ‘Heroes’ in particular, while the deep monotone vocals were a offset by some oddly noted piano accompaniment and an unorthodox rhythmic template.
Available on the ENO MOEBIUS ROEDELIUS album ‘After The Heat’
ULTRAVOX! Slow Motion (1978)
The first phase of ULTRAVOX! was dominated by the songwriting of John Foxx, but ‘Slow Motion’ was a group effort. Decamping to Conny’s Studio, the intro and theme were composed by bassist Chris Cross on his newly acquired EMS AKS. The quintet locked together as never before, with Billy Currie’s ARP Odyssey playing off Robin Simon’s treated guitars almost as one behind Warren Cann’s powerful, syncopating drums. Sadly, this breakthrough was not to last…
Available on the ULTRAVOX! album ‘Systems Of Romance’
MOEBIUS & PLANK Tollkühn (1981)
Dieter Moebius and Conny Plank released their first collaborative effort, the reggae influenced ‘Rastakraut Pasta’ in 1979. For the second album ‘Material’, a more rigid beat was applied, as well as driving synthesizer rhythms. ‘Tollkühn’ was a mightily pulsing electronic workout that more than suited the title’s English translation of ‘Daredevil’. Full of phasing effects with the odd cymbal interjection, it now stands out as ahead of its time in the context of 1981.
Available on the MOEBIUS & PLANK album ‘Material’
http://www.bureau-b.com/moebius.php
HOLGER CZUKAY Witches’ Multiplication Table (1981)
By 1981, Holger Czukay was at the zenith of his Dali-inspired surrealist sound painting, having released ‘Movies’ in 1979. Following their LES VAMPYRETTES collaboration, Plank contributed ‘Witches’ Multiplication Table’ to ‘On the Way To The Peak of Normal’, the second album by the CAN bassist. With Czukay providing an oddball monologue over a dub backbone, Plank added cemetry synthesizer violin alongside bursts of French horn; “Craziness is something holy” he later said.
Available on the album ‘On The Way To The Peak of Normal’
PHEW! Signal (1981)
PHEW! was formally a member of psychedelic rock combo AUNT SALLY and her first solo single ‘Shukyoku’ was produced Ryuichi Sakamoto in 1980. Produced by Plank, Holger Czukay and Jaki Liebezeit, ‘Signal’ was the experimental Japanese singer’s take on Neue Deutsche Welle with distant echoes of Berlin noise merchants MALARIA! looming. Driven by hypnotic bass synths and punky guitar, it was unsurprisingly tense and darkly rhythmic.
Available on the PHEW! album ‘Phew!’
http://www.japanimprov.com/phew/
EURYTHMICS Never Gonna Cry Again (1981)
With hits like ‘Would I Lie To You?’, ‘Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves’ and ‘Thorn In My Side’, it’s unusual in hindsight to understand that Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart were interested in rhythmic electronic music from Europe, hence their name. When the pair left THE TOURISTS, one of the first to lend support for their new aspirations was Conny Plank. ‘Never Gonna Cry Again’ with its doubled synth and flute solo was the first song released from their production partnership.
Available on the EURYTHMICS album ‘In The Garden’
ULTRAVOX The Thin Wall (1981)
So happy was Plank with working with Warren Cann, Chris Cross and Billy Currie on ‘Systems On Romance’ that when Midge Ure joined, he offered to finance the recording of a new ULTRAVOX album. The reconfigured quartet signed to Chrysalis and delivered the hit album ‘Vienna’
Available on the ULTRAVOX album ‘Rage In Eden’
DAF Kebab Träume (1982)
Gabi Delgado-López and Robert Görl had worked with Plank since 1979 and with his assistance, DAF had reduced to a minimal electro body core of Görl’s tight drumming and synth programming driven by a Korg SQ-10 analogue sequencer to accompany Delgado-López’s shouty, aggressive vocals. As with a previous Plank production ‘Der Mussolini’, DAF courted controversy on ‘Kebab Träume’ with the provocative line “Deutschland! Deutschland! Alles ist vorbei!”
Available on the DAF album ‘Für Immer’ via Mute Records
MOEBIUS PLANK NEUMEIER Speed Display (1983)
Mani Neumeier is best known as the percussionist and singer of GURU GURU, the psychedelic jazz combo from Heidelberg who recorded three albums with Plank. Joining him and Moebius for a one-off long player ‘Zero Set’, Neumeier’s presence was felt heavily on ‘Speed Display’, a mad hyperactive collage of drums, bubbling electronics and treated robotic vocals that did what it said on the tin! The drumming was so tight that some have highlighted it as an example of proto-techno!
Available on the MOEBIUS PLANK NEUMEIER album ‘Zero Set’
http://mani-neumeier.de/guruguru/index.htm
LES RITA MITSOUKO Marcia Baïla (1985)
‘Marcia Baïla’ was LES RITA MITSOUKO’s tribute to their late friend, Argentinian dancer Marcia Moretto. With Plank at the production helm, a squelchy backing track with enough space for Catherine Ringer’s strident theatrics was honed for a wonderful celebration of life. It was subsequently covered by Ricky Martin in 1998. LES RITA MITSOUKO went on to become very popular in France, collaborating with SPARKS in 1990. Fred Chichin, the other half of the duo, sadly passed away in 2007.
Available on the LES RITA MITSOUKO album ‘Rita Mitsouko’ via Sony Music
GIANNA NANNINI Bello E Impossibile (1986)
The Italian singer / songwriter had something in common with NITZER EBB’s Douglas J McCarthy in that she too had a relative who was a F1 driver; in her case it was her brother, one-time Grand Prix winner Alessandro. Plank started working with Nannini in 1982 at a time when he was still regarded as a more artistically minded producer, rather than one who delivered pop hits. ‘Bello E Impossibile’ was a huge hit all over Europe.
Available on the GIANNA NANNINI album ‘Profumo’
http://www.giannanannini.com/en/
Dedicated to the memory of Conny Plank 1940 –1987
The 4CD box set ‘Who’s That Man: A Tribute To Conny Plank’
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063520122298
http://groenland.com/en/artist/conny-plank-2/
Text by Chi Ming Lai
6th August 2016
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